Carting it up with Stevo

Brian Smith and the Knights have been making headlines up and down the eastern seaboard over the past few weeks. At the heart of the issues at the Knights is the introduction of an alleged shift in club culture by Smith.

Smith, who took on the Knights job this year, has continually argued that his job has always been to move the Knights into a successful post-Joey era. This role has unsurprisingly raised some challenges. No team ever copes well with the loss of one of its best players, let alone the best player in the world.

All Knights fans and fans of Rugby League in general would all agree that the Newcastle club had to do something to ensure that, after Joey retired, the necessary adjustment in playing styles and strategy would not harm the clubs prospects over the short to medium term.

So the only outstanding complication seems to be how Brian Smith enacted these changes. This is where Smith has trodden on a few toes by culling a handful of local players to sign on some outside help.